


Smile Bright as Sunshine

by Dionte



Series: Chosen Week 2019 [3]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mostly Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 22:12:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17374196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionte/pseuds/Dionte
Summary: Zelos makes it his personal mission to make Colette smile.For Chosen Week 2019, Day 3: Warmth.





	Smile Bright as Sunshine

Zelos had always thought those idle words of praise- “Oh, your smile is as radiant as a summer’s day,” or “your beauty outshines the stars in the sky” were ridiculous and cheesy. Didn’t stop ladies from falling for it, but really, he just never bought into it.

 

The first time he saw Colette smile, he felt strange.

 

He was happy.

 

It was only natural, he told himself later. Everyone had been hoping for it, wishing that Colette would return to herself, and they’d been hyping up how fantastic she was.

 

And yeah, okay, she did seem pretty fantastic.

 

So he stashed that feeling away for analysis at a later date.

 

But for some reason, that feeling was what caused him to realize how fake her normal smiles were. It was a mask she wore, much like the one he wore.

 

Granted, those fake smiles were almost genuine. No idea how she managed that one. She was hurt by the world, and she smiled about it, hoping that hurt would make the world happier.

 

As such, he himself, the great Zelos Wilder, Chosen extraordinaire, made it his personal mission to keep her smiling. And more specifically, to make her give some real smiles.

 

In Ozette, when the Papal Knights attempted to arrest everyone, she tried to shoulder the blame again, saying, “It’s my fault again. I’m so sorry, everyone.”

 

So Zelos decided to try and take some of that off her. " Don’t be silly. They’re after my life, too. The Professor and Genis are wanted because they’re half-elves. Sheena is from Mizuho, now considered a village of traitors. And Regal is considered a traitor as well.”

 

She gave him a sad watery smile, but it made him happy. The same way he’d felt in the Fooji Mountains, and when he’d spoken to her outside of Sybak.

 

And he suddenly understood how those words could work on the ladies. Because he felt kinda warm and nice when she had smiled at him.

 

So he kept trying.

 

He cracked jokes, he smiled, he made a goddamn fool of himself.

 

And when they were searching for the cures for Colette’s ailment, while his own mask was cracking, it happened.

 

The most random, inane conversation, gone haywire through the combined forces of Regal’s serious nature with Lloyd and Colette’s absentminded ones, and him there to fuel the fire ten times more. Suddenly he heard the start of a laugh. Lloyd still looked completely confused by the conversation, while Regal was perturbed, but Colette…

 

Clever little Colette had realized exactly how absurd the conversation was, and was bent over, laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach.

 

It made Zelos feel like he was bathing in sunlight.

 

And he wondered if he would actually be able to betray them, because he was getting attached.  Because maybe, if he could bask in the warmth of Colette’s laugh more, he’d no longer feel so cold.


End file.
